The Georgia state gazette, or, Independent register. (Augusta, Ga.) 1786-1789, August 09, 1788, Image 2

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t»in certain information on the fubjeft, but, til* obtained I will by no means admit the case to be so bad. But why dwell on inft*l . meat, when we know that it will not answer the purpose ? and, if it ppftibty could give re lief, is iiicoufiftcnt with the principles of the Federal (onftitution, and of course would come to nothing ? This naturally brings us to the 3d quell ion. If jnftalmenf wilt not answer the purpose erf relieving the debtor, and at the fame timy of doing just ice'to the. creditor, what measure will } I aufwer, not iTaftily, but on the matured deliberation I am capable of, that Allotment is the only msdy, 1 can think of, that will answer the pufpufe. Keep the case before dated in view: A, the debtor, is worth, tn poUcffioir; s<x>ol. in specie : by a law to be made for that purpose, and to be carj ied into*execatiert before the Federal Government takes place, let there be allotted to B, the creditor, the full and just amount of A’s debt, out of his real estate, fay 10001. which being done, let A, by the fame law, be difchargedfrom*any future demand of B whatfoeVer on amount of that debt. This will dilburthen A, who lias saved his property, and so much of Lis ( bat he is now worth, clear estate, 40001. This will give a tyring to his spirits, animate hia industry, and having escaped the gulpb, tnkkehim, for the future, keep at * cautious diftanee.* This law would, at the fame time, the greatest poftlble jus tice to the creditor B, for, rtiould Sheriffs sales take place, property, real .or personal, for want of specie, would tyll for a trifle on lv, so that the real value of 10001, would not fetch 1001. and so oh» A law framed'for the purpose of allotment, would, I imagine, extend onl/ t<J debts contracted previous to the war, to certain judgments already ob tained, and to a few other cases, but to such only afl come within a particular defeription. Such a law ought to be reftrltted to debts of a certain niag&itude, fraall ftfras lh6uld be paid in the common way.’ It the creditor is a foreigner, let him, in justice, be admitted to all the tights of citizehihip, except only voting for and holding places oT public trust in governmeut, which partial disability might also iu time, for good renfons, be taken off. In framing inch a law,v within the lines of pur constitution, I prefome, a Superior Court would be appointed, to be held in each coun ty on the fame day, fuppofc the iaftTuefday in August ; a spacial jury being furnmoned, let the creditor or debtor he authorifed, "by petition, dating the amount of debt, to'apjly for three referrees; to be appointed agreeable to the mutual nomination of the court, jury, and party, to take the whole circumftarices of the* case into confederation, and, on oath, award the sum equitably due, and the allot ment proposed to the amount thereof, and make a return to anotheV Special Court, to: be held by adjournment, fuppote on the last Tuefday 1 of September; which court should be authorifed to r confirm the allotment, and discharge the debtor. Such a law will be made with proper provifocs, many of which octcur, but I have not room to mention them; I on ly mean to thew that such a law may be mad* with "propriety, and conftitutionaily, and I will venture to fay, that, uhlefs a law of this complexion is made, and put into ex ecution immediately, the opportunity will be forever loft, then, in tyite of paper emifli • ons, in spite of inftalment laws, and in tyite of Congress, the debtor A (referring to the case above cited) will lie at the mercy of bis ctaditor B, and the chain of bondage will soon be riveted. A PLANTER. -******- Mr. SMITH, I 9 Having iuyour last inserted the loose remarks I hope in your next you will find room for those of > LECTOR. \HATEVERprofefliooal merit the Di vme, the Lawyer, or the Physician may aflume ; u certainly is but secondary, to that which is due to him who open* the in tricate paths of science to his puijl, and gives ty thought Ids youth a relish sos ul'cfulftudy, m as much as these are the proper trads , f ‘V* cad to th « several purfuiis of the c,, » r *<*er*—Thus far AU zfTPr 1 Caw k f e P x,ur tempers—but no uilQimmiw unhappily fuc WC (iu the ptgftut • » *' • case) I imbibed early prejudges in favor of that which (for the firft time) I have heard % styled “/important nonsense,” although I never “ hpard or read a grave letture upon " the necetiity of teaching students to make, and lean Hexameter and Pentameter verses:” so that these prejudices mull have originated ’ rather from my own vitiated taste, than from the frequent inculcations of « pedantic grammarians.” It was very confident in'ah advocate for the fuperficial fyfienj of educa tion to reprobate “ elaborate lectures upon phraseology and the propriety of tropes and figures,”—when wd coiifider a prior hiatus in the laid fyfteiir in treating of gender and de elenjron a neceflary re'fult where the rudiments of a language arc substituted for its gram mar-—I believe if Horace was permitted to revifft the earth as a mortal he could relifli a a glass of Burgundy as much* as ever he did his favorite Falernian, and allow as much merit to some modern pieces of Latin poetry, as to any of thole which were tbe production of his former cotemporaries, and not Hand convicted of the present faftrionable inode of criticifin.—•Miftdke me nor, AUDITOR I mean not to offer this firing of affeition for a chain of reasoning—I intended*it for your use as a inirrpr—-for inyfelf,- as an opportunity to. beg pardon of tins''public when I take up their time with my vagaries.—'When we . confide? coolly of this matter, and' tefieCf, that, in the firll place you have advanced, that “ those learned gent lemCu who have so long lived upon' thof* absurdities” have made “ very' little proficiency in thefe' branches ’ and in the next place, that you confefs you are, in this matter, “ as ignorant as these learned gentlemen,” l fay when we cOnfider this, good nature herfelf cannot palli ate the couclulion, that you have been dif cQurfing upon a fubJed of which you are igno rant, and that it would have been better for us both to have been silent, you, upon the last mentioned principle, and I, for afiuming the prerogative to myfelf of pointing out what other* can with equal facility difeeru. To' Sir. THOMAS 618 B 0 NS, « ' Attorney. f R, very juflly blame Ame- X ricans for their forwardnefs in troubling' the world with their private difpatcs. Im pressed with the sentiment, and iny prbfeiiion as a Soldier didating other weapons than the •pen, it may require an apology for bringing you forward on the fLge of on ly excuse is your tying up my hands from taking that private fatisfadioti which you so , jufily merited, and which, but for that rea son, you should moll alluredly have re ceived. As you Have compelled me to this mode, I ill-all address you in the style which Will answer the end proposed : 'ahd here per mit me to declare, that was' you young iu .vice and Uubackueyed in the road of villainy I should .pity your fituatioh and pray for your amendment; but when I behold you a member of iniquity, vfaiofe crimes are more cuormotis as his years increase! the only yclpiug in this case you will receive will be to turn you over to a public investigation, as criminal jui ifprudCace seems to be the ul timate appeal of your bravery. YtS^xf h ° f aDAY sacred to LIBERTY*, you thought fit, without the most dijtant incitement to begin the nifults I have fihee been obliged trt notice. In my ab fence you had the audacity to enquire what fellow that Hopkins (meaning myfelf) was, and the impudence : t 6 declare that had you been there you would have thrown me down the TMfc My ody crime had been the' attending a friend of mine as lir as a warehouse, apparently his own property——Nor were your insults con fined to me alone, that friend (anofficer like wise in the American c ule) received your mfolent abuse, and feekteg fatisfaftion with out being a magistrate, was however by you nugifterially boundup— Howyou could dare to disturb tbe feftivity of that day must aftouifh all who know you, ignorant of the infatuation of the prelent day, aud your- uuaccbunuble rile—luth language to any gentleman, v.as only to be expected from one, whole cha racter baa mvaiiably home every trait dif gracttul to human nature j to be cxpreiledto ' an officer Who bud loughtT and bled toellablilh Lccu<.m, which iliac day the tuiuincuio- rafi on of, and uttered from the mouth of a noted and recorded traitor will hardly be be lieved.—Your insults were again repeated rhd as soon as I bad an oppertunity I sent my friend Major Lewis with the following lines ' SI R, Your impertinent quell ion and injolent ob servation to me on the ioth iuft. at the Court house, has injured me in a point to tender for the world to forget or me to forgive , I need but tell you that I am a Soldier to let you know what I mean, and the fatisfaftiou I re quire.—My friend Major Lewis will ver thisand is auti>onfed from me to inform you that I expert you will meet me with your friend * on the Carolina fide of the Savannah river to-morrow evening, at fix o clock* —l will ■ provide the conveyance aud give the necessa ry information. Yours, & c . See. E. B. HOPKINS. Mr. Thos. Gibbons. Savannah, i6thJuly, 1788. Previous to your reading it vou entered into a diicuffion of characters, hinted that you ex pend a challenge, aud a determination of breaking the head of its btarer—unfortunate ly for you, you had gouq to far—what your feelings were, for is wellkuown you possess them but in a verymhor dtffiee, must be left to * your own breast,- wb£u that geutleman avow . ed hiiufdf the hfaret by presenting you with the note. Ar nian of honor or bravery cifuld not have (hrirnk from the affertibn; but ' ycru was wanting for an evasion to shelter you fiom that chaflifement yon Was on the ■ point of receiving After a thousand ex cuies you ptopofed a delay till-the morning, and :a the mean time you took measures to r.olay altogether, by au application to the law.---In the midst of my anxious expe&atioii f° r an answer f was fainted with a warrant, v and a deputy Sheriff a npeare'd as yourl’eco'nd. ;In three or four hours,'full time enough to fecutc me, I received your following iufolent note.— ' * C “SIR, ; I received your paper from Mr. Lewis last evening ; I have been long barked at by minor characters j the yelping, in this ir.ftance, ' has become difagrecable, therefore I (hall , tlirn Je* over ‘o tiie laws of the (fate as a proper objeft of criminal jurifprudeuce. , ■ THUS. GIBBONS. ;th July, 1788- ' 1 You excufe' yourlelf by having been long barked at by riimor characters—to whom you abudei I ffiatl not give myfelf the trou ble of examining : but will just remark on the word minor—ls I ani not m ist a k cn lt ia , comparrj ve term, and may as well be the ante cedent to Villainy as to honedy—taken in the" firft sense, and I cannot think you meant the t r 1 ncvcf heard y° u taxed with it. I will not comest your rank, for I believe the woii J will al(ow you to be the Major if not the ' MaximOs iu that science, andfhould any befo nujuft as to deny this pre-eminence, a little en quiry will soon enable you to run ybu> course < unrivalled.—To witness for you* theGholls of , B , r f 3? re€k iH their heads, and the ami able mistaken Lincoln will certify,— To attest your treafoffis, the Georgia continentalprifo ners will place their signatures, and undoubted V Ptoofs of your confumaie Impudence and ef frontery, your convention at Purrilburgh aud Sharon can easily eftablilh.—Let your comparison of a Contiaental General and -a , Britilo Serjeant be brought forward, and the > ven^ e ai;ce the injured Lincoln had prepared ; f or > ou bc prooouuceff—Let your charafter » n P riv *te li£e conic m t<» your support, let the fallen Smith come from the grave and declare v y° UI bk/ody proclamation and let the-flab : you have giveu in a late tranfaftion -to yous Father s memoiyand dealings, set the diadem of villainy on your head—just, just indeed is the implication you are no uT**»or ; charac ter- the whole tenor of your life, has- been the definition of public faith, and thedifturb ance of the happiness of private families-has been your chiet delight.—By votr, modesty has been beggacM and virtue kick’d out of countenance..—Your creed has* been well drawn by the immortal Shakefpcar, and his Autoiicu* Sud Arnold are the only charafiers worthy of being yuur companions —p U ( c f, | my country 1 for thee lam truly mortified, to fee thee just recovering from the veuemons wounds of Britain ; again the ser pent in thy Kofom— placing » confidence where ague can be expeded, aud cherdhiag